Transdisciplinary dimensions in the composing activities of children: transfer of strategies and transformation of knowledge

Abstract

Existing studies show the value of using visual expression as a means of teaching children to understand and create music. This study aspires to point out an additional valuable aspect, namely, the influence composing via visual expression – whereby children transform their own drawings – may have on children's subsequent compositional processes. This is an area which is, as yet, largely unexplored. The article will examine this within a context in which children compose individually at the keyboard. With the aid of some examples taken from actual teaching practice, the author shows how children – consciously or intuitively and in a more complex and sophisticated manner – transpose their playing strategies from ‘visual composing’ to a primarily musical context or a context incorporating new, non-musical references.